Mancala, the National Game of Africa
Date: 2021-09-04T00:00:00+00:00
Keywords: Games -- Africa; Mancala (Game); Board games -- Africa

The Project Gutenberg eBook of Mancala, the National Game of Africa

This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.

Title: Mancala, the National Game of Africa

Author: Stewart Culin

Release date: September 4, 2021 [eBook #66220]

Language: English

Credits: deaurider, sf2001, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MANCALA, THE NATIONAL GAME OF AFRICA ***

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.
UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.

MANCALA, THE NATIONAL GAME OF AFRICA.

BY
STEWART CULIN,
Director of the Museum of Archæology and Palæontology,
University of Pennsylvania.

From the Report of the U. S. National Museum for 1894, pages 595-607, with plates 1-5 and figures 1-15.

WASHINGTON:
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE.

1896.

MANCALA, THE NATIONAL GAME OF AFRICA.
BY
STEWART CULIN,

Director of the Museum of Archæology and Palæontology,
University of Pennsylvania.

MANCALA, THE NATIONAL GAME OF AFRICA. [1]

By Stewart Culin,

Director of the Museum of Archæology and Palæontology, University of Pennsylvania.

[1] Read before the Oriental Club of Philadelphia, May 10, 1894.

The comparative study of games is one that promises an important contribution to the history of culture. The questions involved in their diffusion over the earth are among the vital ones that confound the ethnologist. Their origins are lost in the unwritten history of the childhood of man. Mancala is a game that is remarkable for its peculiar distribution, which seems to mark the limits of Arab culture, and which has just penetrated our own continent after having served for ages to divert the inhabitants of nearly half the inhabited area of the globe.

Fig. 1.
MANCALA.
From a figure by Lane.

The visitor to the little Syrian colony in Washington street in New York City will often find two men intent upon this game. They call it Mancala. The implements are a board with two rows of cup-shaped depressions and a handful or so of pebbles or shells, which they transfer from one hole to another with much rapidity. A lad from Damascus described to me the methods of play. There are two principal ways, which depend upon the manner in which the pieces are distributed at the commencement of the game. Two persons always engage, and ninety-eight cowrie shells (wada) or pebbles (hajdar) are used. One game is called La’b madjnuni, or the “Crazy game.” The players seat themselves with the board placed lengthwise between them. One distributes the pieces in the fourteen holes, called bute, “houses,” not less than two being placed in one hole. This player then takes all the pieces from the hole at the right of his row, fig. 1, G, called el ras, “the head,” and drops them one at a time into the holes on the opposite side, commencing with a, b, c, and so on. If any remain after he has put one in each of the holes on the opposite side, he continues around on his own row A, B, C. When he has dropped his last piece he takes all the pieces in that hole and continues dropping them around as before. This is done until one of two things happens—his last piece drops into an empty hole, when he stops and his opponent plays, or it drops into a hole containing one or three pieces, completing two or four. In that case he takes the two or four pieces with those in the hole opposite, and if one or more of the holes that follow contains two or four without the intervention of a hole with any other number, he takes their contents with those opposite. The second player takes from the hole g, and distributes his pieces around A, B, C. If the head is empty, the player takes from the next nearest hole in his row. When the board is cleared, each player counts the number he has above his opponent as his gains. No skill is necessary or of any avail in this game, the result being a mathematical certainty, according to the manner in which the pieces were distributed in the beginning. La’b hakimi, the “Rational game,” or La’b akila, the “Intelligent game,” is so called in contrast to the preceding. Success in it depends largely upon the skill of the players. In this game it is customary in Syria to put seven pieces in each hole. The players, instead of first taking from the hole on their right, may select any hole on their side of the board as a starting place. They calculate the hole in which the last piece will fall, and the result depends largely upon this calculation. La’b rosëya is a variety of the first game and is played only by children. Seven cowries are placed in each hole, and the first player invariably wins. My Syrian friend told me that the shells used in the game are brought from the shores of the Red Sea. Mancala is a common game in Syrian cafés. Children frequently play the game in holes made in the ground when they have no board, a device also resorted to by travelers who meet by the way.

Fig. 2.
MANCALA BOARD.
Jerusalem.
Cat. No. 15296, Museum of Archæology and Palæontology, University of Pennsylvania.

Fig. 3.
MANCALA BOARD.
From a figure by Hyde.

Fig. 4.
BOARD FOR NARANJ (MANCALA).
Maldive Islands.
Cat. No. 16380, Museum of Archæology and Palæontology, University of Pennsylvania.

Plate 1.

Turkish Girls Playing Mancala.
From an old print.

Fig. 5.
BOARD FOR NARANJ (MANCALA).
Maldive Islands.
Cat. No. 16379, Museum of Archæology and Palæontology, University of Pennsylvania.

A board in the Museum of Archæology, University of Pennsylvania, from Jerusalem, is shown in fig. 2, and one from Beirut, Syria, in pl. 2, fig. 1.

Mancala, the name which the Syrians give to this game, is a common Arabic word and means in this connection the “Game of transferring.” It is not mentioned in the Koran by this name, but must have been known to the Arabs in the Middle Ages, as it is referred to in the commentary to the Kitab al Aghani, the “Book of Songs,” which speaks of a “game like Mancala.”

Fig. 6.
BOARD FOR CHANKA (MANCALA).
Ceylon.
Cat. No. 16381, Museum of Archæology and Palæontology, University of Pennsylvania.

Fig. 7.
BOARD FOR CHONGKAK (MANCALA).
Johore, Malay Peninsula. Cat. No. 16382, Museum of Archæology and Palæontology, University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Thomas Hyde gave a very good account of it two hundred years ago in his treatise, “De Ludis Orientalibus” (see fig. 3), and Lane, in his “Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians,” describes it very fully as played in Cairo upon a board with twelve holes, quite in the manner I have related. Seventy-two shells or pebbles are there used, and, whether shells or pebbles, are indifferently called hasa. The hemispherical holes in the board are called buyoot, plural of beyt. The score of the game is sixty, and when the successive gains of a player amount to that sum he has won. I soon found that I had learned from my Syrian acquaintance nothing that had not been recorded, but upon visiting the Damascus House in the Turkish village at the Columbian Exposition at Chicago, I was enabled to engage with the Syrians in the game, and was impressed with the peculiar distribution of the game over the world. The Ceylon exhibit contained boards from the Maldives with sixteen holes in two parallel rows, with a large hole at either end. (Figs. 4 and 5.) Here the game is called Naranj. Boards in the same exhibit from Ceylon had fourteen holes with two large central cavities (fig. 6), the game being called Chanka. An Indian gentleman informed me that the game was common at Bombay. His Highness the Sultan of Johore exhibited a boat-shaped board with sixteen holes (fig. 7) under the name of Chongkak. I learned, too, that the game was common in Java, as well as in the Philippine Islands, where a boat-shaped board with sixteen holes is also used (pl. 2, fig. 2), the game being called Chungcajon. It would thus appear that the game extends along the entire coast of Asia as far as the Philippine Islands. Mancala and a kind of draughts were the favorite amusements of the negroes from the French settlement of Benin on the west coast of Africa in the so-called Dahomey village at the Columbian Fair. They played on a boat-shaped board, with twelve holes in two rows, which they called adjito, with pebbles, adji, the game itself being called Madji. It is with the continent of Africa that the game of Mancala seems most closely identified. It may be regarded, so to speak, as the African national game. In the exhibit of the State of Liberia at Chicago, there were no less than eleven boards, comprising three different forms, said to be from the Deys, Veys, Pesseh, Gedibo, and Queah. (Figs. 8, 9, and 10.) They were catalogued under the name of Poo, by which name the game is known to civilized Liberians. The game is, in fact, distributed among the African tribes from the east to the west and from the north to the south. In Nubia, where a board with sixteen holes is used, it is known as Mungala.

Fig. 8.
BOARD FOR POO (MANCALA).
Liberian Exhibit, World’s Columbian Exposition.

Fig. 9.
BOARD FOR POO (MANCALA).
Liberian Exhibit, World’s Columbian Exposition.

Fig. 10.
BOARD FOR POO (MANCALA).
Liberian Exhibit, World’s Columbian Exposition.

Plate 2.

Mancala Boards.

Fig. 1.—Mancala Board.
Beirut, Syria.
Cat. No. 164700, U. S. N. M.

Fig. 2.—Board for Chuncajon (Mancala).
Philippine Islands.
Collected by Alexander R. Webb. Cat. No. 154195, U. S. N. M.

Fig. 11.
BOARD FOR GABATTÀ (MANCALA).
Abyssinia.
From a figure in the “Sacred City of the Ethiopians,” by J. T. Bent.

In the narrative of the Portuguese embassy of Alvarez to Abyssinia (1520-1527) reference is made to “Mancal” as an unknown game, antiquated in the reign of Don Manuel. Bent has recently described it as still existing in Abyssinia under the name of Gabattà.[2] (Fig. 11.) Dr. George Schweinfurth states that it is played by the Niam-Niam, and is constantly played by all the people of the entire Gazelle district, although perhaps not known to the Moubuttoo. The Niam-Niam call the board, which has sixteen cavities, with two at the end for the reception of the cowrie shells, Abangah, (fig. 12) and the Bongo name for the board is Toee. He also says that it is found among the Peulhs, the Foolahs, the Toloofs, and the Mandingos in the Senegal countries, who devote a great portion of their time to this amusement. Rohlfs found it among the Kadje, between the Tsad and the Benue.[3] It also occurs among the Biafren and the Kimbunda. Héli Chatelain, who lived for some time at Angola, described the game to me under the name Mbau, and said that cavities are cut in the rock for this game at the stations where the porters halt. A board collected by him at Elmina, now in the U. S. National Museum, Washington, D. C., has twelve holes in two rows, with large holes at the ends. (Pl. 3.)

[2] Speaking of the peasants of Sallaba, he says: “These primitive people are perfect artists in cow dung. With this material they make big jars in which to keep their grain, drinking goblets, and boards for the universal game, which the better class make of wood. I brought one of these away with me to show how universal this game is among the Abyssinians, from the chief to the peasant, and it reached the British Museum unbroken. This game is called Gabattà, and the wooden boards made by the better class contain eighteen holes, nine for each person. There are three balls, called chachtma, for each hole, and the game is played by a series of passing, which seemed to us very intricate, and which we could not learn; the holes they call their toukouls, or huts, and they get very excited over it. It closely resembles the game we saw played by the negroes in Mashonaland, and is generally found in one form or another in the countries where Arab influence has at one time or another been felt.” (“The Sacred City of the Ethiopians,” London, 1873, pp. 72-73.)

[3] Richard Andree, “Ethnographische Parallelen,” neue folge, Leipzig, 1889, p. 102.

Fig. 12.
BOARD FOR ABANGAH (MANCALA) USED BY THE NIAM-NIAM.
From a figure in “Artes Africanæ,” by George Schweinfurth.

Plate 3.

Board for Mbau (Mancala).
Elmina, Africa.
Collected by W. H. Brown. Cat. No. 151128, U. S. N. M.

Plate 4.

Mancala Boards.

Fig. 1.—Board for Kale (Mancala).
Falls of Gaboon River, Africa.
Cat. No. 164869. U. S. N. M.

Fig. 2.—Óchi Board for Bau (Mancala).
Mount Kilima-njaro, Africa.
Collected by Dr. W. L. Abbott. Cat. No. 181805, U. S. N. M.

Among the Fans of the Gaboon River the game is called Kale,[4] after the bean-like seed used in counting. (Fig. 13 and pl. 4, fig. 1.) Another board in the U. S. National Museum, collected by that adventurous traveler, Dr. W. L. Abbott, from the Wa Chaga tribe at Mount Kilima-njaro, has twenty-six holes arranged in four rows of six each, with two large holes at the ends. (Pl. 4, fig. 2.) He describes it in his catalogue, published by the Smithsonian Institution, under the name of Óchi, used for playing Bau, a common game throughout Africa, and says that it is played with nicker seeds and pebbles. Bent, in his “Ruined Cities of Mashonaland,” gives the following account of the game: “Huge trees sheltered the entrance to their village, beneath which men were playing Isafuba, the mysterious game of the Makalangas, with sixty holes, in rows, in the ground. Ten men can play at this game, and it consists of removing bits of pottery or stone from one hole to another in an unaccountable manner. We watched it scores of times while in the country, and always gave it up as a bad job, deciding that it must be like draughts or chess learned by them from the former civilized race who dwelt here.” He then proceeds to identify Isafuba with the games of Wari played on the west coast of Africa.

[4] The collector, Rev. A. C. Good, gives the following account of the game: “Two players seat themselves on opposite sides of the board, and four counters are placed in each of the twelve pockets. Then one player takes the counters out of a pocket on his own side and drops one in each pocket around as far as they will go, going to right and back on his opponents side in the opposite direction from that in which the hands of the clock move. They move thus alternately until one manages to make his last counter fall in a pocket on his opponent’s side, where there were only one or two counters. When he has done so he has won the counters in that pocket, including his own last counter. These he transfers to the receptacle in the end of the board to his right. A single counter taken from last pocket on player’s right can not win from opponent’s first pocket opposite, even though it contains only one or two counters. When a pocket has accumulated twelve or more counters, so that a player drops clear around and back to where he began, he must skip the pocket from which he started. When so few counters remain in the pocket on the board that no more can be won, the game is ended and each counts his winnings. The counters that remain in the board at the end of the game are not counted by either player. The game is sometimes varied thus: When a counter wins as above, not only the contents of that pocket is won, but of the pocket or pockets before it on the opponent’s side that has contained only one or two counters back until one is reached that has been empty or had three or more counters before the play. This last is rather the better game of the two. The Fans do not play these games skillfully. They seem unable to count ahead to see where the last count will fall. A white man, as soon as he understands the game, will beat them every time.”

Fig. 13.
BOARD FOR KALE (MANCALA).
Gaboon River, Africa.
From a specimen in the Museum of Archæology and Palæontology, University of Pennsylvania.

Prince Momolu Massaquoi, son of the King of the Vei tribe, described to me the manner of playing the game among the Vei. They call the game Kpo, a word having an explosive sound resembling a note of the xylophone, mimicking the noise made by the seeds or ivory balls with which the game is played when tossed into the holes on the board. The boards, which are made with twelve holes in two rows, with large holes at the ends, are called by the same name. The boards used by the chiefs are often very expensive, being made of ivory and ornamented with gold. He had seen boards which cost 20 slaves. The holes in the boards are called kpo sing or kpo kungo, kungo meaning “cup.” The game is usually played with sea beans, which grow on vines like the potato on the west coast, or by the chiefs with the before-mentioned ivory balls. These seeds are called kpo kunje, kunje meaning “seed.” He identified a board from the Gaboon River as suitable for the game, although he said that much more elaborate ones, like those in the Liberian exhibit, were common. The depression in the middle of the board from the Gaboon River is intended to catch pieces that do not fall in the hole for which they are intended. Cheating is practiced, and to guard against it players must raise their arms and throw the pieces upon the board with some violence. Two, three, or four play. The game differs somewhat from that played in Syria and Egypt. A player may commence at any hole on his side. His play ends when the pieces first taken up are played. He wins when the number in the last hole is increased to two or to three. He does not take those in the hole opposite. When two play, four beans are put in each hole, but when three or four play three beans are put in each hole. When two play, the pieces are dropped around in the same direction as in the Syrian game, but when three or four play they may be dropped in either direction. When two play, each player takes one side of the board; when three play, each takes four holes, two on each side, dividing the board transversely into three parts, and when four play, each takes three holes. When two play, a winner takes only what he “kills” (fá); but when three or four play, when one completes two or three in a hole by his play, he takes those in the next hole forward. When a man takes a piece with one next to it, he uses his fingers to squeeze the pieces into his hand, the operation being called “squeezing” (boti), but this can only be done when one of the pieces is in one of the player’s own cups and the other one or two in that of an opponent. Players sit crosslegged upon the ground, and when the chiefs play large numbers often assemble to watch them. I have given Prince Momolu’s account somewhat at length, as several African travelers have declared the game incomprehensible to a white man.

Dr. Schweinfurth regards the Mohammedan Nubians as having received Mancala from their original home in Central Africa, and says that the recurrence of an object even trivial as this is an evidence, in a degree indirect and collateral, of the essential unity that underlies all African nations. Mr. Bent justly says that the game is found in some form or another wherever Arabian influence is felt, but, continuing, states that it forms for us another link in the chain of evidence connecting the Mashonaland ruins with an Arabian influence. Dr. Richard Andree, in his well-known work on Ethnological Parallels,[5] in which he has brought together many accounts of the game, says that he regards its progress from west to east, from Asia to the coast of the Atlantic. This opinion I share. Peterman relates that Mancala is played in Damascus with pebbles which pilgrims collect in a certain valley on their way from Mecca. From the comparatively early mention of the game in Arabic literature, and the retention of its Arabic name in Africa, Arabia would appear to be the source from which it was disseminated. Mohammed proscribed the Meiser game; and games of hazard, although played, are regarded by Mohammedans as prohibited by their religion. Mancala, a game of fate or calculation, appears to be looked upon with toleration, and it is not unreasonable to suppose that its wide diffusion is due to its having been carried by returning pilgrims to the various parts of the Mohammedan world. If we accept this theory of its distribution, we have yet the more difficult question of its origin. This, I fear, is not to be determined directly, and will only be surely known when we attain a greater knowledge of the rules or laws which underlie the development of games, even as they do every other phase of the development of human culture.

[5] “Ethnographische Parallen,” neue folge, Leipzig, 1889, p. 101.

Plate 5.

Board For Wa-we (Mancala).
Island of St. Lucia.
Collected by Rev. F. Gardiner, Cat. No. 151286, U. S. N. M.

I have recently been informed that Mancala is a common amusement of the negroes of San Domingo, who play upon boards scooped with holes. A board in the U. S. National Museum (pl. 5) was collected by the Rev. F. Gardiner, jr., in St. Lucia, where the game is played by the negroes under the name of Wa-wee.[6]

[6] Mr. Gardiner writes in a letter to Dr. G. Brown Goode under date of May 2, 1895: “The game of Wa-wee was bought in St. Lucia, but I found it in use also in Barbados and Martinique among the negroes. As far as I could ascertain, they supposed it very old—came from their fathers. I supposed it came from Africa; but no one seemed to know anything about it. It is a regular gambling game.” In regard to the method of play, he says: “As near as I can remember, each of the small side holes has a given number of beans put in, each man taking one side and one large hole as a goal. The beans are taken up from one hole in the hand and dropped in a certain order in the other holes, going round the whole circle. If the last one drops in a hole which has a certain number of beans in it (I don’t remember the number), he picks that lot up and goes on. The object is to land the most beans of your own and taken from your adversary in the end holes.”

It is not unlikely that Mancala may some day take its place among our own fireside amusements, when this account may answer some inquiries that may be made as to its history.

Since the above was written I have learned that the game of Mancala was published in the United States in 1891, under the name of Chuba, by the Milton Bradley Company, of Springfield, Mass., who furnish the following rules and account of the game:

Chuba is an adaptation from a rude game of eastern Africa which is greatly enjoyed by the natives, who squat on the ground and play in holes scooped out of the sand, using shells, young cocoanuts, etc., for counters, which they move from hole to hole. As now presented to the civilized world for its diversion, Chuba is a game of skill for two players. It is made up of a board with 4 parallel rows of holes or pockets, 11 in each row, and 60 small beads used as men or counters. [See fig. 14.].

Fig. 14.
CHUBA.
Position of men at opening of the game.

The board is placed between the players as usual, with the longer sides next to them. Each one confines his playing to the two rows of pockets nearest him. The row close to his edge of the board is his outer row, while the other is his inner row.

Before beginning the game each player places a single counter in each of the pockets of his outer row and two counters in each pocket of his inner row, except that the pocket on his extreme left in the inner row is kept vacant and the one next to it holds but one man. The above diagram shows the arrangement of the board at the opening of the game. As indicated by the arrows, all moves in the inner row are from right to left, and those in the outer row from left to right. As the players face each other the moves in the two inner rows are necessarily in opposite directions.

The privilege of playing first in the first game is left to agreement or chance, not being regarded as of any consequence. In subsequent games the player who was victor in the last contest takes the lead.

The first player chooses any pocket in his inner row which contains more than one man from which to start his first move, and begins the game by picking up all the men in that pocket and dropping one of them in each of the consecutive pockets to his left until all the men in his hand have been distributed. If the last counter drops into a pocket that is occupied, the player continues the move by picking up all the men in that pocket, including the one dropped, and disposing of them as before. His move must continue in this same way until the last counter in his hand falls into an empty pocket, and the move may extend around the course, into the outer row, or even farther, as indicated by the arrows.

If this empty pocket into which the last man falls is in the inner row and has opposite it a pocket in the opponent’s inner row containing one or more men, the player captures these men and at once removes them from the board. And if there are one or more men in the corresponding opposite pocket of the opponent’s outer row, they must also be taken. Furthermore, he must select another pair of opposite pockets in his opponent’s rows from which to remove any men that they contain. In making this choice he is at liberty to pick out any pair of opposites, whether both are occupied or empty, or one is occupied and the other empty. The accompanying diagram will explain the meaning of this rule. [See fig. 15.]

Fig. 15.
CHUBA.

Suppose the player B had just finished a move by dropping a “last man” in No. 1. He can capture all the men in 2 and 3 by his skill and also in 4 and 5 or from any other two opposite pockets of his opponent’s inner and outer rows. Had 2 been vacant, however, he could not have taken any men. Had 3 been vacant, he could have taken the men from 2 and those from 4 and 5. Had his last man fallen in the outer row, in 6 for example, the effect would have been of no avail in capturing anything, because the outer row is always noncombatant.

A man in the outer row can not be moved until he has been played upon by a man from the inner row.

A move can not begin from a pocket holding a single man if the player has a pocket containing more than one man. When a move does begin from a pocket containing a single man, it can not be played into an occupied pocket.

When all the men which a player has become single, those remaining in his outer row which have not been played on are forfeited to the opponent.

The winner is the player who captures all his opponent’s men.

It is an advantage to a player to get his counters singled as soon as possible, unless he sees that his opponent is doing the same thing, when a different policy is wise.

If he wishes to cover two or three vacant spaces in order to effect a capture, it can often be done, provided he begins his move far enough back from those vacant pockets.

The loss of counters during the earlier part of the game is not necessarily as great a disadvantage as in most games, because so much depends on the final move, in which there is the chance for a brilliant display of skill.

The native players of the original Chuba say “chee” at the end of each move, which gives notice to the opponent to proceed; and toward the close of the game, when the moves follow in rapid succession, the effect is very amusing.

The natives call the counters in the inner row “man and wife,” and those in the outer row “spinsters.” But these spinsters are married by passing a counter over them from the inner row, till, in the progress of the game, all the pieces become single, when they are all called “widows.” These widows have a double advantage over the married families, and are sure to make havoc among them. The game is appropriately named, as the word chuba means “to extinguish” or “eat up,” and the object of each player is to annihilate his opponent by putting the latter’s counters in a position from which escape is impossible.

Transcriber’s Notes

A number of typographical errors were corrected silently.

Cover image was created from elements of the book by the transcriber and has been donated the public domain.

*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MANCALA, THE NATIONAL GAME OF AFRICA ***

Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will be renamed.

Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™ concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away—you may do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark license, especially commercial redistribution.

START: FULL LICENSE

THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE

PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK

To protect the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting the free distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work (or any other work associated in any way with the phrase “Project Gutenberg”), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project Gutenberg™ License available with this file or online at www.gutenberg.org/license.

Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works

1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg™ electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property (trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in your possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project Gutenberg™ electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.

1.B. “Project Gutenberg” is a registered trademark. It may only be used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg™ electronic works even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project Gutenberg™ electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg™ electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below.

1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (“the Foundation” or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the United States and you are located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg™ works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg™ name associated with the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg™ License when you share it without charge with others.

1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project Gutenberg™ work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any country other than the United States.

1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:

1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg™ License must appear prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg™ work (any work on which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” appears, or with which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, copied or distributed:

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.

1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase “Project Gutenberg” associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg™ trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.

1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is posted with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked to the Project Gutenberg™ License for all works posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.

1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg™ License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg™.

1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project Gutenberg™ License.

1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg™ work in a format other than “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other format used in the official version posted on the official Project Gutenberg™ website (www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg™ License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.

1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg™ works unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.

1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing access to or distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works provided that:

- • You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from the use of Project Gutenberg™ works calculated using the method you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark, but he has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in Section 4, “Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.”

- • You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg™ License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg™ works.

- • You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of receipt of the work.

- • You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free distribution of Project Gutenberg™ works.

1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg™ electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.

1.F.

1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project Gutenberg™ collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg™ electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain “Defects,” such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment.

1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the “Right of Replacement or Refund” described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark, and any other party distributing a Project Gutenberg™ electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further opportunities to fix the problem.

1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you ‘AS-IS’, WITH NO OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.

1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.

1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone providing copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg™ work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg™ work, and (c) any Defect you cause.

Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg™

Project Gutenberg™ is synonymous with the free distribution of electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from people in all walks of life.

Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg™’s goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg™ collection will remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure and permanent future for Project Gutenberg™ and future generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at www.gutenberg.org.

Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation

The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit 501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal Revenue Service. The Foundation’s EIN or federal tax identification number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state’s laws.

The Foundation’s business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up to date contact information can be found at the Foundation’s website and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact

Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation

Project Gutenberg™ depends upon and cannot survive without widespread public support and donations to carry out its mission of increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the widest array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations ($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt status with the IRS.

The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate.

While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who approach us with offers to donate.

International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.

Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate.

Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg™ electronic works

Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg™ concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and distributed Project Gutenberg™ eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.

Project Gutenberg™ eBooks are often created from several printed editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.

Most people start at our website which has the main PG search facility: www.gutenberg.org.

This website includes information about Project Gutenberg™, including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.

Table of Contents

- MANCALA, THE NATIONAL GAME OF AFRICA.
- MANCALA, THE NATIONAL GAME OF AFRICA. [1]
- Transcriber’s Notes
- THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE